The adventures of goth girl and her artisan friend
by kdibs227cheerleader
Summary: Raven didn't know what expect when she met with Beast Boy in secret for a nightly drawing session. She didn't expect for that one night session to turn into something more. She didn't expect to find more than a hopeless jokester hidden under that green skin, and she certainly didn't expect to find herself falling for him. Besides, she's Raven with the stone cold heart...right?


_One_

The first meeting is in secret, only because the others are prone to snooping at the best of times, and frankly they want to keep this new part of their relationship in the dark for a bit. Neither one knows where this is leading, but if the suggestive talk from the day before is any indication then perhaps there is something else buried beneath all that banter. So at nine o'clock, shortly after Raven is sure that Robin and Starfire are off waltzing around Jump and Cyborg is tinkering on something in garage, Beast Boy walks into her room, without so much as a _'may I come in?'_ and plops down on her bed, covering it in art supplies.

"Do you really need all this to do a good drawing?" Raven asks with a thin veil of curiosity. She would have never known that Beast Boy actually drew, but now that opened up her eyes to what he may really be doing when he wasn't bugging someone. She could have guessed anyway, she supposed, if she really put her mind to it. Beast Boy was known to sometimes hole himself in his room for periods of time, and during this time the others knew not to bug him if they could avoid it. Then there were the times when he would spend hours out flying, with a small rugged backpack, and he wouldn't come back for hours on end.

Her train of thought was broken when her green skin companion laughed. Beast Boy's eyes were shinning brightly, more than usual she noted, and he simply smiled. His pearly white fang stood out in contrast with the dark decor of her room.

"Rae, you told me to wow you with my amazing skills," He said as he started sorting through his array of work tools. "I also remember telling you that I would wow you."

"I don't think I used the same words you just used," Raven said dryly as she got up off her bed to put back her book. Most of her books were well read, their spines cracked, but over the years she had amassed many more now that she had a more permanent place to keep them. She could feel Beast Boy's eyes on her, and she fought back the urge to sigh. It was all her doing that resulted in this meeting; for all her talk of Beast Boy being the instigator, she was proving that statement wrong.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you it isn't polite to stare?" Raven asked as she turned back around and headed back to her bed. She flicked on a few lamps and the light began to make shadows on the walls. Beast Boy rolled his eyes and focused his attention on scarping something off one of his pencils.

"Ya, at one point or another, but I tend to ignore the parts of people screaming at me." He said absently. Raven cocked an eyebrow. Beast Boy didn't seem alarmed at that statement, not like she was, and it was hard to as a small nagging feeling in her gut told her she was in that pile.

"Yes, well you probably wouldn't get yelled at so much if you didn't fool around so much." She said, as she sat back down. The bed shifted and Raven suddenly realized that they were camped out on her bed. She and Beast Boy were sitting on her bed _together_, alone in her room, and she couldn't help but move her eyes to her bookshelf again; she was suddenly grateful that she had moved her romance books to a box under her bed. She had denied it when Cyborg had asked her, but if Beast Boy ever found out, well, there would be no stopping him.

"I like fooling around. It keeps things interesting." Beast Boy said as he finished with whatever sort of organizing he was busy with. She could see a sketch pad, one with a battered cover, and many kinds of pencils, coloring pencils, and other art related things. He looked up at her and frowned, then reached for his sketch pad.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked. Beast Boy looked at her again, and then flipped open to a blank page. She could see other kinds of drawings flutter before becoming hidden and she suddenly wanted to see what they were about.

"I was just thinking about how to draw you," He mused, and tapped his chin with the end of a pencil. Raven blinked.

"Do you always stare at the objects you're drawing before you draw them?" She asked dryly. Beast Boy shrugged, and began to move his hand across the page.

"No, but I was taught to envision what you want to draw before you start." He explained as he looked up at her again and then back to his paper. She nodded, even though half of her questions weren't answered, and watched him. Beast Boy didn't seem bothered with her staring; in fact she hardly believed that he noticed it. The boy was known for becoming intensely focused on certain things, like a game he was playing or on a rare occasion a book, and he could simply block out the world around him to fully immerse himself in whatever he was doing.

"Who taught you?" Raven asked after awhile. She could see a shape beginning to take form on the paper, but from the way Beast Boy had angled his pad she couldn't get a clear view. Maybe he had done that on purpose. Beast Boy froze for half a second, then resumed his work. He didn't answer for a moment.

"My dad did. He always thought that the best way to learn something was to preserve it on something. He never could think of where I learned to draw." Beast Boy said quietly. Raven was speechless for a moment. None of the titans ever talked about their lives before they joined the team unless it was absolutely necessary. For Beast Boy to simply tell her this, without any _'well, why the heck do you want to know?'_ questions or the ever common _'no, I don't_ _want to talk about it.'_ Raven felt honored.

"Oh, well that's good he taught you." Raven said softly. She glanced at her clock and realized with a start that the time read 11:06 p.m. Had that much time really passed? Beast Boy glanced at her and than at the clock. He began to stretch him arms.

"I guess I should head out," He said lightly, and she could detect a thin hint of disappointment in his tone of voice. "Before the others notice. I bet Cy is still down in the garage."

"Yes, that's probably the best option." Raven reasoned. She watched him pack up his things, and she didn't speak again until he was nearly out the door.

"Beast Boy," She said, and he turned around to face her, his head cocked to the side. "I just wanted to thank you for tonight…and for what you shared with me." She said softly. He smiled lightly at her.

"It's nothing, Rae," He said, ignoring her underhand comment of _'my name is Raven-not Rae.'_ "plus, we're not done here. I'm not even close to finishing."

"You aren't?" Raven asked in a surprised tone. Beast Boy laughed and smirked as he headed out.

"Nope, as I recall, Rae, you wanted to be wowed. And I'm not stopping until you are."

He left and the door closed with a swish. Later that night Raven replayed the past events in her head. Tonight had actually been…enjoyable. They hadn't fought, they had maintained a civil attitude towards each other and she had even gotten a glimpse into her green skinned friends head.

That night, Raven feel asleep feeling more content than she had in years. As Chinese philosopher Laozi had said once, _"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."_ It seemed that not only had Beast Boy made that step, but Raven had as well.

And she wasn't regretting it at all.

Author's Note: Well, this is a spin off of chapter 98 in _'One Hundred Little Stories.'_ Fire-wolf 18 wanted to see how this little snippet turned out, so I'm going to take this idea and run with it.

Thankfully school is done next week (good-bye Junior year!) and updates will reutrn to normal. I've got a great ending to _'One Hundred Little Stories' _and _'The Name Game'_ and _'The Ripple Effect' _will be updated soon. Well, read and review. I always like your comments, they certainly brighten my day.


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